Many small business owners who maintain LinkedIn and Twitter accounts eventually wonder how to follow their LinkedIn contacts on Twitter to connect socially and expand their networks and online presence. Although you can view Tweets written by your LinkedIn contacts on LinkedIn, you can only view their Tweets on Twitter if you follow the contacts on your Twitter account. Twitter no longer provides a quick option to import contacts directly from LinkedIn. Instead, you must export your contacts to a Twitter-compatible email service and then use Twitter to find and follow them.

Export LinkedIn Connections

Sign in to LinkedIn.

Roll your cursor over “Contacts” at the top of your account to reveal the Contacts drop-down menu.

Select “Connections” to go to your LinkedIn Address Book page.

Click the “Export Connections” link located under the third column of the address book to access the Export LinkedIn Connections page.

Check the “Export To:” field to display "Microsoft Office (.CSV file)" and then click the “Export” button.

Import Connections to Email Account

Go to an email service that allows Twitter access to contacts such as AOL, Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo and follow the on-screen instructions to set up a free account.

Use your email provider’s import contacts feature to import the LinkedIn connections via the CSV file. For example, in Gmail click the “Gmail” option on the left side bar above the Compose button. Click “Contacts” and then click “Import Contacts…” to open the Import Contacts window. Click “Choose File.” Locate and select the LinkedIn CSV file on your computer and then click “Open” followed by “Import.”

Check that your email account address book updated with the new contacts.

Add Connections to Twitter

Sign in to Twitter.

Click the profile button to the left of the “Compose New Tweet” button at the top right corner of your account to open a drop-down menu.

Select “Lists” on the menu to go to the Lists screen.

Create a list for your LinkedIn connections so you can follow them separately in Twitter. Click the “Create List” button and enter a list name such as “LinkedIn Connections.” Add a description, select the “Public” or “Private” display option and then click “Save List.”

Click “# Discover” at the top of your Twitter account.

Select “Find Friends” to access the Find Friends area.

Click the “Search Contacts” button for the type of email account you used to save your LinkedIn connections and then complete the necessary actions to authorize access to the contacts in that account. For example, in Gmail, click the “Grant Access” button.

Click the profile button under the name or picture of a LinkedIn connection when he appears on the screen. Click “Add or remove from lists…” to open the Your Lists box and then select your LinkedIn Connections list title to add the connection to it. Repeat this process as necessary until you’ve added all your available connections.

Tip

If you only have a few connections, enter their email addresses manually, separated by commas, in the “Invite Friends to Twitter via Email” field at the bottom of the Find Friends area. Click the “Invite Friends” button or open the CSV file in spreadsheet software, where you can copy the email addresses and then paste them in the field.